The drought is also forcing New Mexico into a state of emergency, with 98 percent of the state in severe or worse drought. Byron Morton, meteorologist with KOAT News 7 out of Albuquerque, N.M., explained that the state is deep in drought.

"It's the worst since record keeping began 118 years ago," Morton said.

The drought isn’t just confined to the Southwest. It extends to California and Oregon to the west and is expanding further east, too. Radio Iowa reports that in Iowa, many are calling July’s dry spell a “flash drought,” though Iowa State University Extension climatologist, Elwyn Taylor, disagrees.

Around 20 percent of the state is experiencing abnormal dryness, and says that right now it’s too early to panic.

“And this is a county-by-county deal, so there’ll be some counties in drought. We don’t know this will be the whole corn belt like it was last year,” Taylor says. “The trend for the nation this year for corn yield would be 160 bushels per acre. And so, if we ended up with a yield of 144 or less — then we’re in a drought.”